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It’s important to remember that addiction is a
mental illness. Some of these addictions may
make you think that people are just doing this
for attention, but people can become
addicted to almost anything. Whatever lights
up the reward center of the brain is
something people can become addicted to.

That’s why many people binge-eat crappy
food or drink too much, or…uh…pull hair out
of shower drains. It makes their brains make
the chemicals for happiness and joy, they
associate that weird thing with happiness and
joy, and addiction is born. However, that
doesn’t mean they aren’t…weird. Here are 25
Strange Addictions That Are Shockingly Real .

25. Drinking Human Blood

A woman named Julia Caples from
Pennsylvania has drunk human blood every
day for the last 30 years, sometimes drinking
up to half a gallon a month. Yes, she’s goth.
Why did you have to ask? She claims she’s
addicted to it, and it makes her feel alive and
keeps her beautiful. On the one hand, that
cannot possibly be good for you. On the
other hand, she’s probably not anemic. Note:
Don’t drink human blood. Prion disease is no joke.

24. Shopping

This addiction is actually a medically
recognized addiction with it’s own name –
Oniomania. While it’s easy to laugh it up, or
laugh at these people, they literally do not
have control over their lives and go into
crippling debt for shiny things. It can
sometimes stem from depression or feelings
of inadequacy, and it is treatable. If you’re
going into debt for things you want but don’t
need, hiding purchases from your family, and
feel the “need” to buy something every day,
even if it’s online, you may want to consider
your true motivations.

23. Exercising

While it’s probably not the WORST addiction
to have, an addiction to exercise is still an
addiction, and it still has consequences – like
continuing to work out despite an injury,
obsessing over caloric intake and daily weight,
and strain on relationships and schoolwork or
job performance. These addicts sometimes
work out over 2-3 hours a day, which is a lot
of cardio and strain on your body. Some
estimates say that up to 10% of high
performance runners and body builders are
addicted to exercise. While sometimes this
stems from a need to be in control, it can all
be as simple as an addiction to the “high” we
get after intense workouts.

22. Tanning

Yep. A tanning addiction is actually defined,
and here it is – someone who lies out in the
sun or visits a tanning salon more than eight
to ten times a month. You can actually have
withdraw symptoms if you stop tanning. But
you know what’s worse than withdraw
symptoms? Cancer. And also looking like
you’re 75 when you’re 40.

21. Drinking Pee

A woman in her 50’s who chooses to only be
known by her first name, Carrie, drinks her
own pee. She also washes her eyes, sinuses,
and teeth with her urine. She claims it tastes
like water, and she has no intention of
stopping.

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Compulsive hair pulling, or trichotillomania
(often shortened to trich) is an impulse
control disorder, where people have an
overwhelming urge to pull out their hair –
from their head, eyelashes, eyebrows, beard,
arms, anywhere. People who have this
condition experience high levels of anxiety
until they pull out some hair. Sometimes
people who have Trichotillomania also chew or eat their hair.

19. Receiving Coffee Enemas

Coffee Enemas are something people can, and
do, become addicted to. This can stem from a
caffeine addiction as taking it in through your
bottom allows it to be absorbed into your
body more quickly (which is also why some
people stick drugs up there, but those people
usually die), OR it could just be because they
like having enemas. The Florida couple, Mike
and Trina, who made their addiction known
nationwide in 2013, spend up to five hours a
day with their addiction and don’t even drink
coffee. Trina had various gastrointestinal
health issues and claimed that coffee enemas
are what helped her; she hasn’t been to a
doctor since.

18. Playing Video Games

Yes, despite what your significant other says,
video game addiction is real, and it’s probably
not what they have if you’re still in a
relationship with them. Video game addiction
is usually characterized by compulsive game
playing, usually of online role playing games,
to the detriment of one’s personal and
professional life. Those addicted to gaming
often start to withdraw from reality and real
relationships, instead focusing on online
relationships and game achievements. People
who are addicted to video games are USUALLY
males under the age of 30, but not always.
People have died from this because they
simply refused to get up from their game and
eat or go to the bathroom.

17. Piercings

Yep, people can become addicted to all kinds
of body modifications, not just plastic
surgery. Tattoos also fall under this
classification. While there isn’t an official
name for this disorder, some people just can’t
help themselves and get every inch of their
body “modified,” and most cultures praise self
expression so much that we never question
their motivations, or if in SOME instances, it
may be unhealthy because it’s considered judgmental.

16. Eating Glass

Addiction to eating glass has an official
clinical name – hyalophagia. People addicted
to eating glass often admit to enjoying the
attention, but also often sustain serious
injuries, as you’d imagine.

15. Eating Dirt

Eating dirt is actually a form of something
called Pica Disorder. Pica involves people
eating non-food items. Eating dirt -geophagy –
is actually very normal for some cultures, but
if consumed in large amounts (or depending
on what’s in it), it can be very bad for you.

14. Eating Soap or Laundry Detergent

Eating soap is another form of pica disorder.
This is very bad for you. While regular bar
soap *probably* won’t kill you, it will
absolutely liquefy your bowels, and people
have died eating laundry detergent. That
doesn’t stop many people from eating it, as
it’s more common than most people think.

13. Thumb Sucking

Thumb sucking is a comfort measure often
used by children that can become an
addiction in adulthood. Aside from being
embarrassing, this can cause a lot of dental
problems, ugly calluses, as well as sickness
unless said thumb-sucker is very careful
about keeping their hands and under their nails clean.

12. Gambling Online

Addiction to gambling is pretty well known,
but ONLINE gambling, specifically, can be
very addicting. It can cause all the same
problems that a regular gambling addiction
does, financial ruin, families torn apart, but
from the relative comfort of your own home,
with your bank account and credit cards only
a click and screen away. Some experts even
argue that online gambling is even more
addicting than traditional, in-person gambling.

11. Unrequited Love

This is kind of hard to believe – maybe more
so than eating dirt – but people can become
addicted to the pain of romantic rejection.
This has actually been studied, and brain
scans have been done on people showing that
it’s similar to a cocaine craving. You know
that guy who makes the worst relationship
choices possible, or that couple who’s “madly
in love” but breaks up every other weekend?
They may just have a mental illness.

You can be legitimately addicted to, and
experience withdraws from, sugar. Refined
sugar/ cane sugar is actually really bad for
you (though corn syrup is arguably worse),
but unfortunately for most of us, it’s also in
just about everything that’s processed. Most
people addicted to sugar don’t even realize it
because it’s such a common part of our diets.
Your brain processes sugar as a reward, which
leads to addiction and cravings. You CAN re-
train your taste buds by cutting out all sugar
for several weeks (including natural sugar),
but it’s a rough few weeks because the
withdraws are no joke; Anxiety, depression,
irritability, cravings, headaches, tiredness,
and muscle aches are all common sugar
withdraw symptoms.

9. Eating Chalk

Eating chalk is a weirdly common form of
pica, for both children and adults. While chalk
is labeled non-toxic, during manufacturing it
can be contaminated with everything from rat
poop and bugs to metal shavings, as well as
chemicals used during the manufacturing process.

8. Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding addiction is considered a
separate addiction from exercise, though it
still very much is based around being in
control, or seeking the “perfect” body or
physique, much like those addicted to plastic
surgery. It’s called muscular dysmorphia, or
bigorexia, and like any addiction, it can take
over someone’s life and cost them money,
relationships, and even their health.

7. Listening to Heavy Metal Music

In Sweden, a man named Roger Tullgren
became so addicted to Heavy Metal, and it
took over so much of his life, that it actually
qualified as a disability. He now receives
unemployment benefits from the government
as he’s only able to work part time. No word
on if the checks stop when he goes deaf from the loud music.

6. Getting Plastic Surgery

Often caused by body dysmorphic disorder,
addiction to plastic surgery is where someone
is obsessed with an imperfection – be it real
or imagined – and this starts a cascade of
surgeries seeking to be “perfect.” Society also
plays a role, glorifying plastic surgery, and
many film stars make plastic surgery seem
more “normal” than it is. Although lots of
people like to mock those who go overboard
with plastic surgery, after a certain point, it’s
just sad.

5. Using Over-the-Counter Nasal Spray

Some people over-use over the counter nasal
spray, such as Flonase, or even just plain salt
water. What most people use to clear out
nasal passages or help control allergies,
people addicted will use them several times a
day; however, sometimes this actually makes
their congestion issues worse.

4. Eating Ashes

Specifically, cigarette ashes, though there have
been instances of people eating the ashes of
loved ones who have been cremated. This
form of pica can possibly stem from a
nutritional deficiency such as anemia and can
cause illnesses from the toxins in the ashes,
as well as general gastrointestinal issues.

3. Eating Paint Chips

Mostly seen among small children, addiction
to eating paint chips is a real thing. This can
be very serious due to lead-based paints in
older homes, and even if it’s not lead based,
eating paint is pretty darn terrible for you.
Other forms of this seen in adults are people
who drink paint pens and nail polish.

2. Working

While a good work ethic is healthy and
honorable, some people become obsessive
about work and lose any sort of work/life
balance. We all know someone who can’t
“leave work at work”, but some become
addicted to work and spend more time than
necessary there because it gives them a sense
of fulfillment. This is often to the determent
of other parts of their lives, such as their
personal relationships as they start to
experience emotional disconnection. Before it
becomes an addiction, remember that the
grass is always greener where you water it.

1. Being on Social Media

It’s not entirely your fault, social media is
literally designed to be as addictive as crack.
You’re supposed to basically live on SM, and
well, a lot of people do. People literally have
emotional and psychological distress trying to
quit Facebook, and some people can’t. This is
a bit of a problem, considering people seem
to zero in on social media and sometimes
ditch reality, and also considering that it’s
well known that Facebook is experimenting on
you and gathering all your data for the
highest bidder. Social Media addiction can
become a big problem in someone’s life,
affecting both their personal relationships and
their job. If you think you’re spending too
much time on social media, experts say the
best advice is limit visits to social media to
once per day.